Is this Bumblefoot?

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Hedra2

Post   » Wed May 01, 2019 10:43 am


Actually I’m not even sure it’s pus in his foot. There was a tiny blop if it the first day but then it was just viscous clear slightly yellow fluid, and now it just bleeds so I’m just soaking it but not applying pressure.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed May 01, 2019 11:04 am


If it's clear, it's not pus. Pus has lots of dead white blood cells in it that makes it opaque.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed May 01, 2019 12:47 pm


Pus is usually thick, cheesy in texture and can have an odor.

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Hedra2

Post   » Sat May 04, 2019 10:07 am


Yeah there was only a little bit of pus, but lots of fluid then it turned to serum and blood. We’re continuing with meds and foot soaks and it seems to be slowly improving.

We are out of town for the weekend for a gymnastics meet for my daughter and although the rest of our pets stayed with the house sitter, we made a travel cage for Halloween and he got to come with us. He’s getting spoiled here at the hotel by my kids haha and everyone thinks we’re bonkers.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat May 04, 2019 2:13 pm


Ha! Guinea pig love is a good kind of crazy. ;)

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Hedra2

Post   » Wed May 08, 2019 1:15 am


Haha def good crazy.

Well our vet appt with the exotics vet is finally tomorrow yay! Halloween was doing really well, his foot was looking great and his tooth is growing back, then all of a sudden today his foot swelled up and started pus-ing again. This time it’s for sure liquidy pus coming out. I’m going to ask for s different antibiotic tomorrow.

Luckily he’s still got a great appetite. He’s still having difficulty eating though I’m not sure why as his tooth looks like it’s long enough now. He can eat his own it just takes longer cuz he needs small pieces. He’s so thin though that I top him up with syringe feedings 3x a day which he loves and eats quite a bit per feeding. He sees the bowl and syringe and gets sooooo excited he’ll crawl over anything and knock over everything in his way to get to it as quick as he can. He won’t eat out of the bowl though, he wants to be hand fed. This evening I had to put it down for a second and he kept picking up the syringe in his teeth and trying to eat out of it.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow as we may also be having our hamster spayed due to possible ovarian cysts. It’s never ending.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed May 08, 2019 6:25 am


Keeping fingers crossed for you today! Let us know what you find out.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed May 08, 2019 10:18 am


How are you doing the foot soaks? Have you (carefully, following warnings on pododermatitis page to not get it in the eyes) tried Epsom salt soaks?

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Hedra2

Post   » Wed May 08, 2019 8:37 pm


For soaking his foot I have a small dog bed I cover with a towel then I put Halloween on it in my lap with a small bowl of plain warm water and I sit with my hand on him to make sure he keeps his foot in it. I use this time to syringe feed him (I can do it one handed now) so he’s usually too distracted to do much else. Then I gently express his foot (vet wants me to be a bit more aggressive with this) and I soak his foot again in new water with salt or with cholrahexadine, and continue his feeding. ( I also rinse his foot in plain water afterwards too so he’s not getting it in his mouth or eyes)

Vet appt went well today. He said to continue with meds and foot soaks and said it was tough since Bumblefoot is so hard to get rid of. He gave me a topical antibiotic and showed me how to bandage his foot and I’m to remove the bandage, soak, express, squirt the topical into his wound, and re-bandage his foot every 24 hours and see if that helps. I already change his fleece bedding twice a day but this will hopefully keep his foot cleaner.

Unfortunately Halloween’s teeth aren’t in the greatest shape either. His one top tooth has grown in nicely (vet doesn’t think the other one will ever grow back) but he is still having a little bit of difficulty eating and when the vet checked his back teeth he said they’re starting to overgrow a little. He said in their current state they shouldn’t hinder his ability to eat but if they continue to overgrow they will def need trimming. So I’m going to continue a syringe feeding and when he comes back to town in a couple weeks he’s going to bring his dental equipment so we can float the back teeth (the clinic does not own the right equipment) if needed.He’s back down to his December weight so even though I syringe him tons I will try even more. I’ve been syringing him a mix I made of critical care, ground pellets, and vitamins. At his lunch feed I also mix in probiotics.

On a more positive note the exotics vet didn’t think my hamster had ovarian cysts, he thought it looked like over grooming so he wants to just watch her for now.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed May 08, 2019 9:53 pm


Do make sure the foot is completely dry before re-bandaging.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu May 09, 2019 7:00 am


Thank you for the update, Hedra2. It sounds like you're doing a great job. I was watching a veterinary video awhile back on bumblefoot in rats, and the vet made a sort of "cage" using a stiff gauze material of some sort that fit over the bandaging, that served to keep the rat from putting any further pressure on that foot while it healed. Looked awkward but I thought it seemed like a very clever idea.

Good news about your hamster! One less thing to worry about for now.

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Hedra2

Post   » Thu May 09, 2019 1:34 pm


Yes I will definitely make sure his foot is an ambulance driver for bandaging it, I know that would just make the problem even worse.

He’s being such a good boy and hasn’t bothered with his bandage at all and is so easy to feed.

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